New housing minister appointed

Kit Malthouse has been appointed housing minister replacing Dominic Raab. Raab was this morning promoted to Brexit secretary following the resignation of David Davis.

Malthouse becomes the 15th housing minister in the past 17 years. He became an MP in 2015 representing North West Hampshire and since the beginning of the year has been parliamentary under secretary of state in the Department of Work and Pensions, looking after family support, housing and child maintenance.

While Raab's move is understandable, some in the housebuilding industry reacted with frustration to the constant changes.

Greg Hill, deputy ceo at Hill, said: “Over the last 20 years we have seen no less than 17 housing ministers with each spending an average of just 16 months in the position. If we are to truly stimulate housebuilding then it is vital that the government takes a longer term approach to the sector’s leadership - it is simply not possible to have a coherent policy when a merry-go-round of ministers must routinely pick up the pieces of their predecessor and start afresh. Our new housing minister, Kit Malthouse, will have much to grapple with, and with little …